Red Dragon of the Church
by VNrvnqsr
Summary: What if during his time with Irina, Ise asked for help. In the end, his destiny changed and became a servant of God... This is the story of the Church's Second Strongest Exorcist. AN NOTICE
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: _"Cardinal Red"_

**Shidou Residence – XXXXX**

"Irina, who are those guys in the white robe?" Issei curiously asked his friend.

"Ah, they are exorcists from the church, Ise-kun. They came here to destroy evil spirits!" His friend, Irina Shidou explained. She had a short chestnut hair and a pair of charming purple eyes, she was his friend and they often meet.

"Really?! Then do you think they can help me?" Issei asked with hope in his voice.

Irina titled her head. "What's wrong Ise-kun? Is your house being haunted? Or perhaps a relative of yours is being possessed?" She asked with concern.

Issei shook his head. "No, none of that. But lately, I've been having dreams about a red dragon. He keeps telling me to 'awaken' soon, it's getting creepy." He explained with a frown.

"A dragon?" Irina asked. "Are you sure that it's not your imagination? The priests may be angered if this is some joke."

"No, really! When I have this dream, it feels real! I thought that it was nonsense at first, but it kept repeating." He then tilted his head downwards, showing a sad expression. "I thought that if I tell my parents, they will just ignore it. But those priests my be able to help..."

Irina hugged her friend tightly and smiled. "Of course they can help! In fact, I will tell them your problem now!" She said as she grabbed his arm and ran towards the priests that were discussing about something.

Issei was left alone when Irina talked to her father and and the priests in the other room. He heard some panic in their voice but he couldn't understand their dialogue, they were speaking in another language that he didn't know of.

His mind then remembered the dragon in his dreams. It really looked powerful and scary, Issei confirmed that. The dragon was also grumpy, not allowing him to talk and it keeps saying that he should awaken soon.

Of course he couldn't understand most of the dragon's words. They were always interrupted, but he did understand a few things. An example was its name and the word "Domination"

After a few minutes, Irina and her father left the room, followed by the priests. They were wearing serious expressions in their faces and Issei was getting a little scared.

"Issei-kun." Irina's father spoke. "This dream about a red dragon, is it true?" He asked with a serious tone.

Too scared to reply, Issei nodded.

"Then Issei-kun, can you tell us about this dragon? What is it like? What is its appearance? Its name?" He asked in succession.

"Tou-san!" This time it was Irina who spoke. "Don't you see that Ise-kun is scared?" She ran to his side and hugged him while glaring at her father.

His father embarassedly coughed. "I apologize, but this is important Irina-chan. This may be a serious case for the church, and if this is true, Issei-kun may be in danger." He explained in a stern tone.

Defeated, Irina nodded, but she didn't let go of Issei.

"Then, please answer the question, Issei-kun."

Although scared, Issei was a little relieved from Irina's comfort. "U-umm. Th-the dragon was really big and red... It kept saying 'awaken' and 'domination'." He took this moment to examine the priests' expressions, and their faces were full of seriousness. "It-it also said that its name is.. D-Ddraig or something."

The priests' knees collapsed simultaneously when Issei dropped the bomb, while Irina's father widened his eyes, but remained calm.

"I see. Issei-kun, it seems that you're this generation's Red Dragon Emperor."

Red Dragon of the Church

**Church – 5 A.M in the morning**

Issei opened his eyes.

He dreamt of what happened in the past that was able to change his life. The day when his devotion to god started to grow strong, and the day when he learned of what was inside him. The creature that was feared by both gods and mortals.

Six years has already passed ever since that day.

Issei sighed as he got up from bed to do his daily routine. Tardiness is something that he frowned upon, time shouldn't be wasted and he must always improve to new heights.

After taking a shower, he changed his clothes and wore the metal Rosario that was hanging in the wall. His change of clothes consisted of black skin tight outfit that showed his bare muscular arms and emphasized his trained figure underneath. Although he liked his uniform, he hated the female version of it. The latter was just too revealing, it's a crime to make women wear those kind of clothes.

He looked at the mirror and fixed his clothing, he still can see the carefree child he was once, before he was taken in the church in the age of nine.

After the incident with the priests', he learned that he was a wielder of a sacred gear in the class of Longinus. Furthermore, his sacred gear, Boosted Gear, was a dangerous tool that can make him drunk on power. That's why the church persuaded him to train under them and to become an exorcist to control his power and mental state.

Along with his childhood friend, he was taken in the church and trained under extreme circumstances to become even more powerful so that he will be able to control his sacred gear. His mentor was the church's strongest exorcist, another wielder of a Longinus-class, Dulio Gesualdo.

He had so many flaws to point about that man, but he admired that man's devotion to god and his dedication to slay the evil heretics. Because of that man, he was able to control his sacred gear and become someone that protects human's from evil.

The Red Dragon of the Church, the Dragon Exorcist, and the Second Strongest.

Those were ones of the many ridiculous titles that the church has gave him. But Issei couldn't really blame them, he was feared by the devils, fallen, and heretics for he was a person that can stand toe to toe with a god.

He wore his white robe and and carried the red holy sword, Ascalon on his waist. He still remembered the time when he personally met the archangel Michael and gave him Ascalon as a symbol of being recognized as the church's second strongest.

"May light guide my path..."

He whispered as holy aura started to envelope his body. He smiled in satisfaction as he left his room and met the sun's brightness on the way out.

After six years of continuous training and fighting, he was finally granted the title of Cardinal, which allowed him to take independent action should he desire it. He was now a high figure in the church that can order anyone around.

Although he doesn't take pleasure in ordering anyone, he was just happy that he was no longer an errand boy for those priests who doesn't want to travel in another country. He found it troublesome to always wait in a plane when he could just fly, but unfortunately, his mentor forbidden him to do so unless he was in a mission or deemed something important enough to use his balance-breaker.

Thus, most of the time, he was only using Ascalon to deal with heretics that wasn't powerful enough to see the red armor of the Heavenly Dragon.

He wasn't really a great swordsman, but his skill was enough to stab or slice his opponents. His fighting style is the typical brawling, only enhanced with god-like power from his sacred gear and not to mention magic.

His partner, Ddraig, was not that bad. He was overall a nice guy that was consumed by power and battled another dragon that led to their downfall. Most of the time he was quiet, only talking when he wants to point out something or give tips to him.

Of course, he always listened to him and his warnings. He was a former god, and his wisdom will be helpful... well most of the time. And he did say that he was the only possessor who often talked to Ddraig. He can't imagine being alone for so many millenias.

"Hey there, Cardinal Red~"

Issei stopped walking and grunted when a familiar tone called him, by his most despised nickname.

_Really, why do they keep calling me that? _He complained in his mind.

"Good morning. What's seems to be the matter, sister Ciel?" Issei turned around and greeted a nun whose age was in her early thirties.

Glasses, gentle blue eyes and short brown hair. She was the person in charge of the church where Issei was currently staying, her name was Ciel Fahrengart, a former exorcist and a playful woman who likes to tease him.

"Nothing much, just greeting the 'Second Strongest'~" Ciel replied with a smile.

"You're still going with that?" Issei asked with a dry tone. "Really, it's been years since I gained that title, do you still doubt it?"

"No, of course not~ just want to say it because it's really cool." Ciel replied. "Back in my days, I also gained a few nicknames, and I always order my subordinates to call me by those cool names." She said while remembering her exorcist days.

"You speak like an old woman you know?" Issei remarked. "Well, maybe it's normal. You're already pushing thirty after all."

"Fufufu, did you say something Cardinal-kun?"

"Just my thoughts..." Issei honestly replied. This was one of his traits, since he dislike lying, he became direct, even though he knows that it was annoying to some people... Well, what can he do? He can't praise them for something they are not.

"Cardinal Red doesn't know how to treat a woman." Ciel sighed. "I worry about your future. Many girls will beat you uo if you continue to be like that." She commented.

Issei sighed, why do all people was worried about him and his future love life? He was a Cardinl for heaven's sake! He devoted himself to god, and he will most likely spend the rest of his life not making a single relationship.

"Just state thy business, sister." He sighed.

Ciel's expression turned serious. "Multiple killings from stray devils has been reported to occur in Japan. Furthermore, suspicious people like Balba Galilei and Freed Zelzan has been reported to be spotted there with some fallen angels. The high church have requested investigation and capture of the heretic exiled priests along with the death of the fallen angels. Two people will be sent to accompany you in this mission."

Issei narrowed his eyes. The news was from his home country, and as far as he knew, there were two devil princess residing in Japan. So far they haven't done anything to require extermination, but the church was keeping an eye on them.

"Understood. I will do that mission after I slay the heretic beast that is residing in this country." He said.

"Acknowledged. The people that I mentioned will arrive here tonight, be sure to be back by that time." Ciel reminded.

In response, Issei nodded his head, continuing his trek outside of the church.

Red Dragon of the Church

**Undisclosed Location – Some hours later**

He stood in a pile of mass corpses and glared at the hooded figure in front of him.

"Genaro Krewzeuski... for turning these innocent people into undead and defying the law of god, I hereby sentence you... to death!"

He raised Ascalon and rushed towards the frozen exiled exorcist, burying the holy blade deep in his chest and crushing his heart in the process. He whispered a prayer before he removed the blade and swung it to get rid of the blood.

"May our father judge your soul."

He said those words before creating a fire from his hands and burning the corpses with holy flames. He paid his respects before leaving the scene.

Killing is nothing new for Issei, the moment he reached the age of 11, he received his first mission that involved killing a stray magician that experimented on human corpses and turned them into ghouls. He doesn't take pleasure in killing, and he doesn't close his eyes whenever he does. He stares at the faces of the one he kills to remember them, that was his way of not forgetting his duty.

He was doing this to protect innocent people, not because it was his job.

He wiped the blood off his body, it was gonna rain soon. He needs to return now and cleanse himself and pray for the lives that he has taken once again.

Indeed, the path of being an exorcist is not perfect... not at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Church – Later that day**

The heavy rain continued to pour outside along with strong winds and lightning, as if mourning for the lives that he took once again... or maybe Dulio was just messing with him by summoning a storm.

His clothes soaking wet, he continued to walk slowly under the storm, his cloak billowing behind him.

Why? Why does he have to kill? He was an exorcist, not a murderer.

**[Such thoughts will do you no good, Partner.]**

From his sacred gear, the voice of the Welsh Dragon, Ddraig, was heard. Unlike when he was younger, the current him was no longer afraid of the red dragon.

"I know..." He replied, but that didn't help lessen the weight on his chest. "It's just... I don't want to take lives... an exorcist's job is to vanquish evil spirits... ." He added.

**[Can't be helped... You are my possessor after all... The Church will use you in the end, using the excuse of evil and such...]**

He frowned, of course the church will make him do these kind of mission. Probably because they want to spread his name even more or the church just don't want to lose people.

Ever since he reached the tender age of eleven, he started to do mission which included killing people, devils, and beasts. Taking the life of one another didn't left a good impression on him, but nevertheless he must do it to prevent a terrible outcome. Sometimes, he will go even as far as killing innocent people who have been tainted by dark magic just to save their soul. Other times, he was forced to take their lives in the very eyes of their loved ones.

It was just unfair. During those times, they kept praying to God, but salvation didn't come in any other form aside from death.

Why? Haven't they prayed enough? Why didn't God gave them miracles?

"Stupid Ise, are you questioning the heavenly father now?" He said to himself with a frown. "It's the church's fault, not the heavenly father..."

He sighed and continued his trek, chatting with Ddraig on the way. Unlike the other Sekiryuutei, he was the only one who have talked many times to Ddraig, and was the only possessor who haven't used Juggernaut Drive despite being with him for more than five years.

Before he was trained to use his sacred gear, he was taught about the Two Heavenly Dragons and how they came to be, that also included the past possessors and how they met their demise. He was not proud to know that all of them died while being drunk with power.

He promised himself to not be like his seniors.

Thus, he always communicated with Ddraig to learn things about his power and what triggered the curse of the Heavenly Dragon.

But, although he hasn't used Juggernaut Drive, that doesn't mean that he hasn't been tempted to do so. There was one case in the past, when anger almost consumed him, he began the chant to release the curse. It was fortunate that Dulio came just in time to stop him before finishing the second aria.

After that, he was ordered to not do anything when he knows that he's reaching the peak of his anger or sadness. After all, they were the main key to release the curse of the Heavenly Dragon.

When he arrived in the church, he was welcomed by Sister Ciel, holding a towel in her hands.

"Cardinal, even though you're an exorcist, that doesn't mean that you won't get sick." She said sternly before sighing. "I was expecting this... The bath has been prepared, food will be ready soon. Please take a change of clothes, it's not pleasant in the nose." She added as she stared at his clothes with sharp eyes. There was no doubt that she smelt the foul stench of blood from them. Even though invisible to the naked eye, she was still able to sense it with her inhuman smell, as expected from a top class exorcist.

"My gratitude for thine hospitality, Sister Ciel."

"Nonsense." Ciel replied. "It's the only thing I can do to thank you for doing your job. I also hate the stench of blood, be it from allies or enemies." She said, handing the towel at him.

Issei parted ways with her and entered the bath, leaving his clothes in the dressing room for Ciel to wash. He submerged his body in the warm water and sat comfortably in the tub, clearing his mind by meditating.

The Church was wrong in some ways, he knows that. He only hopes that his mentor will be able to change how the system works.

* * *

**Church – Later that day**

In the end, he stayed in the bath for an entire hour.

He changed in his normal black uniform and left the bath, carrying his trusted sword on his waist. Currently, he was not wearing a priest's robe, he finds it not necessary when inside the church. In fact, he didn't really like wearing a cloak, it was bothersome and prevents agility when ambushed. But he had no choice but to wear it, even his troublesome mentor wears it after all.

Upon his way out, he met Sister Ciel once again.

"Cardinal Red-kun~ the other exorcists had arrived. Please meet them in the lobby~" She said with her usual cheerful tone. He once again sighed at the nickname used to call him. It was ridiculous, whoever invented that monicker must lack creativity or something.

"...You told them unnecessary stories didn't you?" He asked, now realizing why the Sister was cheerful.

The response he got was a chuckle.

He sighed and journeyed at the lobby where his future companions are waiting. He felt strong holy aura radiating from the direction where he was going, there's no doubt that the two exorcist are wielder of the holy swords.

Remembering the swords that he once wielded, he shook his head; those sword were hard to handle since he was not a natural possessor. Ascalon was much better. He went in the lobby and was greeted by the familiar sight of his childhood friend and another woman that was most likely her partner.

Her chestnut hair was now tied into pigtails and her height increased. Her body proportions also improved alongside with her muscles. The familiar violet eyes were still sparkling from her energetic nature.

"Ah, Ise-kun!" His friend, Irina greeted with a smile, running towards him and giving a tight embrace. Her hug was so tight that he was forced to strengthen his own body to avoid being bruised. "It's been a long time! Five years, right? How've you been? I've heard so many news about you!" She instantly asked a barrage of questions.

He chuckled as he returned the embrace, Irina was still as energetic as ever. Although her appearance changed from a tomboyish girl into a beautiful girl in her late-teens, it was still good to know that her bright personality didn't change.

After discovering the dragon residing inside him, he was taken in the Church along with Irina to train their mind and bodies. Although his training was much harder, he was in the same institute as her for three years, until the time he reached eleven, before transferring into the higher council and started his missions at a young age.

Ever since then, he haven't met her for some years, only hearing rumors about her exploits along with her infamous partner.

"Yes, it's been a while Irina-chan. You're much beautiful and lady-like now." He greeted with a smile as he released her from his embrace. Irina blushed but smiled nevertheless. Although she didn't let go of him and continued to hug his arm. Chuckling at his childhood friend, he then turned at the person that was with Irina.

The second girl has blue hair with a green mesh in the middle, her eyes were a little scary but she was beautiful nonetheless. From the muscles in her body, Issei could tell that she was a well trained swordsman like Irina.

The girl stood up and performed a salute.

"It's an honor to meet you, Cardinal Hyoudou Issei. My name is Xenovia and I am Shidou Irina's partner. I will be under your care in this mission." She greeted with a bow.

"Likewise Xenovia-san, you can just call me by my name like Irina."

"Understood." The girl then lowered her gaze and stared at the sword at his waist, inspecting it.

"So Ise-kun, how've you been? I've heard that you personally met Michael-sama and has been traveling with Dulio-sama before you became a Cardinal!" Irina asked, excitement clear in her eyes. The other girl, Xenovia also showed her interest at the topic.

He smiled, of course they were eager to know more about the archangel and the strongest exorcist. Although the latter was not the one that they are expecting to be the greatest role model. After all, that guy will disappear when he learns of a new cuisine, blocking all contacts and the like, truly a lost cause.

"How about we eat first before catching up?" He suggested. "Sorry but I've not eaten yet." He added with an embarrassed smile.

"Great idea! We too, haven't eaten yet!" Irina said.

Xenovia, who has been silent after her introduction spoke. "That's because you were in a rush to meet Cardinal Issei. Seriously, you haven't even slept properly since we've received the order to team up with him. You even refused the idea to go to that country immediately and suggested meeting him."

"Eh? Eh? Why are you saying that Xenovia?!"

Xenovia said more embarrassing things while Irina tried to deny and Issei just made an expression saying 'Eh? Irina-chan did?'

* * *

"Fallen Angels, exiled priests, stolen Excaliburs. Furthermore, the numbers of stray devils appearing has increased recently... there are so many suspicious things. This is no mere coincidence." He muttered to himself after hearing what Irina and Xenovia reported.

After eating, the three of them went in a private room where they started to discuss about the mission. Investigation of the cause why stray devils have been appearing, extermination of the fallen angels along with the exiled priests, retrieval or destruction of the stolen Excaliburs.

"Balba Galilei, the man who is called [Genocide Arcbishop] was also involved during the Excalibur incident a few years ago right?" Issei asked, remembering a certain topic that was able to make his mentor frown.

"Yes. That incident also became one of the worst cases among us and people felt disgusted about it. [Genocide Arcbishop], the person in charge of that project at that time was said to have a problem with his belief. So he was charged with heresy. Now he's one of those people on the fallen-angels side." Xenovia muttered.

"I knew it. The stealing of Excalibur was not coincidence." He frowned and tightened his fists. "But even with Freed Zelzan, it's impossible to steal the holy swords. Then there must be someone backing them in the shadows."

"Do you think that it's the Governor-General of the fallen angels, Azazel?" Irina asked.

He shook his head. "No. I've met that person before, and I can say that he has not interest in things like holy swords. His curiosity lies on sacred gears, and he won't do something that will make the angel's faction to attack him, so I can say that he doesn't have anything to do about this." He explained.

"Eh?! Ise-kun has met the leader of the fallen angels?!" Irina asked, shock at the revelation.

He just nodded his head in confirmation. The truth is that he met him while he was training to use his balance-breaker. The person just appeared and gave him tips about his sacred gear. At first, he was clueless about his identity, but when his mentor appeared and greeted him, he learned that the leader of the fallen angels was just a perverted genius that likes to put his nose in other's business.

"Let's get back on the topic. This isn't a mere retrieval mission, we may be up against a big problem. Unfortunately, we can't let the Church know about this. Another war will start should information about this leaks. We need to resolve this without anyone knowing." He sighed.

"It's that big huh?" Xenovia muttered. "Then how about asking for the aid of Dulio-sama?"

He shook his head. "Impossible. That man is missing again and I can't contact him. He's probably somewhere in the world, seeking delicious food. He's that kind of troublesome person."

He took a moment to enjoy the dumbfounded expression in Irina and Xenovia's faces. Oh, how he enjoyed seeing the shattered expectations when they learn about the Church's Strongest Exorcist's personality.

"I see. So Dulio-sama is like that..." Irina muttered with a shock expression.

"To think that the strongest Exorcist is a gluttonous person..." Xenovia added her expression resembling a kid that learned that Santa wasn't real.

He inwardly laughed, taking a moment to enjoy their failed expectations.

**[Partner, I think that you're descending to "Koto*i*e" path...]**

Ddraig said but he ignored him, relishing the taste of his new-found joy. He remained like that for a few moments before returning to the disscussion.

"This mission will certainly be a dangerous one. But we need to do this to prevent a possible War. Planning is important and we must act as a team; we cannot act recklessly, is that understood?" He asked the two Exorcist.

"Understood. I will follow your orders." Xenovia nodded.

"I'm entrusting the leading to you Ise-kun." Irina also agreed, adding. "You sure have became dependable."

He nodded. "Okay, we'll travel to Japan tomorrow. Time is important in our part."

Just like this, the three person team of holy-sword wielders were formed.

* * *

**Japan – Hyoudou Residence**

"It's been a while since I last saw my parents."

He breathed a sigh of relief as he stood in front of the house where he spent his younger days. Since he was taken by the Church, he wasn't able to return in his homeland. Instead, he only saw his parents when they're visiting him. But their visiting became rare in recent years, he only communicated with them by using phone and other technologies.

His parents weren't aware of magic, but the Church deduced that they came from an extinct family of magicians, although they have magic, it was very weak. Their magic bloodline have dried up and only revived on him. It was the reason why he have an impressive amount of magic to sustain and power himself. Although his training also did a major upgrade in his abilities.

"Indeed it's been really long since I've came here!" Beside him, Irina also showed her excitement. "I'm excited to see auntie and uncle! I'm sure they will be surprised by your visit!"

"So this is the home of the second strongest before he was taken in the Church... it's quite normal." Xenovia voiced her thoughts. He can't blame her, his family was normal before he found out that he was the Sekiryuutei.

"Althought it has changed... I never remembered our house being a six storey tall and having this much space..." He muttered.

"The Church probably did this to compensate." Irina replied.

Indeed, in the past the Hyoudou residence was only a two storey house. But now, it's quite big and the land nearby has been occupied. He wondered where his neighbors went, but that wasn't his main priority.

He rang the doorbell in the gate and waited for a few minutes until a familiar figure went outside.

"Hey mum, long time no see?" He casually greeted.

* * *

**Hyoudou Residence – An hour later**

"I still can't believe that you're home now!" His mum said, still basking in excitement. "Look at how tall you are! You're also packed with muscles! Hohoho, going in the school in Englad sure did changed you!"

"Hahaha." He just laughed weakly at his mum's excitement. "You've also changed mum, you're now older."

A smack found its way on his head.

"You too, Irina-chan! You're so beautiful now! There's no doubt that you're famous!" His mum continued to say things but stopped when she thought of something. "By the way, are you dating Ise as of now?" She asked.

Irina blew the juice that she was drinking upon hearing the question. "Wh, what?"

"Well, since you came back here with Ise, I thought that you two are eloping." His mum said. "Not that I'm complaining! It's good that you've finally managed to confess and that you two chose this place and**–"**

He sighed, Irina was too flustered to speak while Xenovia was just enjoying the show as if she's not included. "We're not eloping mum. Even if we are, do you think that we'll bring another person?" He asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Really? I thought that Xenovia-san is another one of your girlfriends?" Her mum tilted her head. "Aren't you making a harem overseas? Your father was very proud of you, you know?"

Another sigh. "I'm studying to be a priest. Just what do you think I was doing overseas?" He retorted to his "mother".

"I, is that so? What a pity." His mum then sent a glance at Irina. "Don't worry Irina-chan, I'll help you get through Ise's dense head!"

"Mum don't speak bad about your son." He sighed in resignation. "Anyway, does the house have enough room for us to stay?"

"Of course! If there isn't, you can just share a room with Irina-chan!"

* * *

**Hyoudou Residence – Later that evening**

"Okay. We'll start our plan. But we need information, unfortunately, the church here has been abandoned. We can only get information from people who are ware of the current situation." He explained.

The three of them was in his room, discussing the actions that they will take now.

"But there are no priests here." Irina said.

"Indeed. But if I remember, there are two devil princesses living here. How about we ask for information?" He asked.

"Using the devils? Not bad." Xenovia stated.

"Ise-kun, you'll cooperate with the devils?!" His childhood friend yelled. "Are you sure about that?"

"The minimum objectives we have to achieve are destroying the three Excaliburs or take them back. If our Excaliburs are going to be stolen as well then we should break them before it happens. Even if we use the last resort, there's only a 30 percent chance that we will succeed if we lack information." He explained. "If we manage to gain the help of the devils, our mission will proceed faster and we may be able to stop whatever they are planning to do with the Excalibur."

"I see. My beliefs are flexible. So I can act in the best way." Xenovia nodded.

"You! I have been thinking about it for a long time, but your faith is a bit weird!" Irina complained

"I won't deny it. But I think that it's our duty to accomplish our mission and return safely. I'm going to live and continue fighting for God. Am I wrong?" Xenovia stated, nodding to herself.

"…You are not wrong. But... what if that fallen angels and devils are working together?"

"That might be true. But the chances are slight. Devils would never work with exiled priests...But in case that happened" He stopped and gripped the Ascalon clad in sealing magic. "I will take all of them using the power of the Red Heavenly Dragon..."

* * *

Author's notes.

I'm really surprised that this story gained more than 10 reviews upon posting. I only thought that a not devil-perverted Issei is a good idea, I got it from Emperor of Dragons, one of the good fictions in the HS-DxD archive.

Anyway, this fic will start in the first volume. Asia will appear, then it will develop quickly in the Excalibut arc. The protagonists here won't become devils so don't expect a devil Xenovia. I won't say any more spoilers here but I'll move the Engagement arc after the second one.

You must be thinking that a human Issei won't be as powerful as his devil counterpart. Well, that is true but I change the Issei here to have impressive magic and he also uses his brain a bit. He also uses Ascalon as his main weapon when not using balance-breaker. He didn't combined it with his sacred gear because... well, Michael didn't. Also, he doesn't use his sacred gear unless the situation calls for it. Balance breaker is only used when he really decides that the situation is important.

Furthermore, I'm also thinking of transferring Issei in a different school... do you think that it'll do?


	3. Chapter 3

He walked silently in the town where he spent his childhood days, exploring the city and noting the changes that occured in the past eight years that he was gone. He wasn't very happy at what he learned in just a few hours of walking, so many fallen angels and devils had resided in his beloved city, claiming the territory as their own.

What's worse is that there was no church in this city that wasn't abandoned. This only shows the lack of faith and the control of the other factions in this particular city.

Indeed, it has something to do with two devil princesses residing in this town. The fallen angels are also involved one way or another, this was no mere coincidence. He sighed and made a mental note to contact the higher ups and tell them to establish a new house of God in this city.

He would've done so right now, but his main priority was to talk to the devil that was carrying the name of Gremory. She was the younger sister of a Maou so he was confident that she will not act rashly and attack him on sight, it may lead to her own death and start a new War.

He was confident in his skill even if the enemy was a high-class devil, he had faced so many of them and he became used to it. There were even times where he battled dozens of them even though he was human, although he didn't escaped completely unscathed. That was the start of his ascension in the ranks of the church.

It has been three hours since he started searching, but until now he haven't found the devil that he was searching for.

He left Xenovia and Irina in his house and said that he will take care of the negotiations. After all, he can easily handle if the situation would escalate in the worst possible outcome. Although he ordered the two of them to stay alert just in case.

He sighed, maybe he should search in another time? Until now he hadn't even saw a shadow of a devil.

Just when he was thinking of that, he noticed a presence that belonged to a devil. He immediately went to search for the owner and saw a young man with brown hair, wearing a uniform and was currently walking idly. From the looks of his weak aura, he could tell that he was a reincarnated devil, a recent one.

That means that he's a servant of a high-class devil. Maybe his master is the devil that he was searching for.

He followed the devil and made sure that the brown haired man would notice his presence. Contrary to what he thought, the boy ran away from him and started to course through the city.

He sighed, the devil-student was just making it hard for him.

Silently, he erased his presence and follow the student, who has no idea that he was still around.

When the devil stopped in a park that doesn't have many people on it, Ise revealed himself once again, cornering the him.

"Kuh! I won't go down without a fight!" The devil said as his right arm changed and a black snake-like gauntlet appeared.

"A sacred gear huh? So that's why you're a servant." He said with half closed eyes. "Anyway, I'm not here to fight nor exterminate you. I just want to talk and ask some questions." He muttered as he raised both of his arms.

"How can I trust you? You may attack me when my guard is down!" The devil retorted.

He sighed. "I'm a man of God, do you think that I would lie or resort to use trickery and deception?" He asked, frowning at the devil who huffed in embarrassment.

"Okay, I'll listen. But I won't let my guard down." The devil said.

"Very well then." Ise sighed. "I am Hyoudou Issei of the Church, may thoust honor me with thy name?"

"...Genshirou Saji..." The devil replied, from the looks of it, he doesn't recognize his name. Maybe talking to him would be harder than he anticipated.

"I'll get to the point. I'm here for a mission, I will say it now, it doesn't concern extermination of devils. Before I start, I would like to talk to a certain devil. Saji-san, by chance, are you a servant of Rias Gremory?" He asked.

The devil shook his head. "I am not her servant. I'm a servant of Kaichou."

He sighed, this Genshirou isn't that bright. "Can you at least tell me the name of this Kaichou that you're talking about?"

"There's no need."

A cold voice replied as a transportation circle lit up in the ground. Ise didn't take any stance and just waited until the speaker reveal herself. A few seconds later, a beautiful woman with the same age as him appeared. She clearly easn't a Japanese but she speaks fluently like one. Ise felt her aura and recognized that she was a high class devil.

"Kai-Kaichou! You came!" Saji exclaimed as his eyes lit up.

"I am Sona Sitri." The girl introduced. "May I know the reason why you're chasing my servant, priest?" She asked with a cold voice.

Ise remained calm and stared back at her. She recognized her as the other princess, but now that he heard her name, he remembered that she too, was a relative of a Maou. She can replace Rias Gremory just fine. "I just want to ask a question but Saji-san immediately run, so I followed him. I mean no harm to him nor any of devils here, unless they are doing something suspicious." He explained, it was true, unless they are not doing anything harmful, he wouldn't engage them in a battle. He may be a Priest/Exorcist, but he's still reasonable.

The devil, Sona narrowed her cold eyes. "Identify yourself." She ordered calmly.

"Hyoudou Issei. Nice to meet you." He replied, doing a gentleman's bow, the male devil huffed in annoyance as he glared at him.

Sona flinched when she heard his name, no doubt recognizing him thanks to his achievements and ridiculous titles. He felt relieved that he can finallly talk to someone that knows of him. It would be easier since he will not labeled as a fake or even an exiled.

"Wha, what's wrong Kaichou?" Saji asked. "Perhaps you're a friend of him?" He added with a tone of panic.

"No I am not, why do you think I would be a friend with a priest in the first place?" Sona replied, looking at Saji as if he was stupid. The latter just laughed weakly, scratching the back of his head. "But I've heard of him. Hyoudou Issei, a prodigy who has the record of being the youngest Exorcist/Priest who attained the rank of Cardinal in the age of fifteen. He's a genius that's recognized as the Church's second strongest Exorcist, on top of that, he's also the Sekiryuutei..." She explained.

Saji's eyes widened as he stared at him withfear and awe. "Y, you mean that he's the rumored human that fought a dozen high-class devils?! And he's also a Heavenly Dragon?!" He asked, alarmed.

Sona only nodded in response. "So, Hyoudou-san, what do you need to ask? Even though I would never talk to a priest, facing a Heavenly Dragon is different."

He blinked as he returned from his musings. "Ah! That's right, as I said before, I only want to talk to Rias Gremory. But since you're also a high-class devil and is also the younger sister of a Maou, I guess you can suffice." He said as he sat in a nearby bench. Sona frowned as he referred to her as the sister of a Maou. It means that it must be important. "I, along with two other Exorcists were sent here to stop the fallen angels and retrieve the stolen Excaliburs. I just want to ask information from a high-class devil like Gremory-san, but since Sitri-san is also a high class devil, and a relative of a Maou, maybe you happen to know something about the fallen angels in this city?"

Sona narrowed her eyes upon hearing his sentence, but she shook her head. "Unfortunately, I do not have any information. However, Rias may know something regarding the fallen angels."

He sighed. "Is that so? Then, could you tell her that I'm here and wants to talk to her? This case is really important, if not resolved quickly, it may end in another horrible outcome." He said, trying to be as vague as possible, but it didn't work evidently.

"Are you saying that this may lead into another war?" Sona asked.

She's sharp. He thought as he reluctantly nodded. Maybe there's no way to hide it to her from the beginning anyway.

"Then... if it's that important, Rias will have no choice but to talk to you." Sona also sighed. "She's at Kuou Academy, I will grant you permission to enter the school grounds as long as you don't cause any trouble. Is that enough for you, Hyoudou Issei-san?"

He smiled. "Yes, thank you very much Sitri-dono. I swear that me and the other two Exorcists will not do anything unless provoked." He then stood up from the bench. "Then I will take my leave now. Sorry for taking your time." He bowed politely and headed off, leaving the two devils.

"Huh, that went well." He muttered to himself.

* * *

**Hyoudou Residence – That Evening**

"Thus, we will drop by in the school that was mentioned." He explained what happened while Irina and Xenovia listened. It was already late when he called the two of them into his room, discussing things about what happened in his day.

"I'm glad that it went well but... what if it's a trap?" Irina asked, still uncertain about going in the enemy's territory.

"Then we'll cut them up. Surely with Cardinal Issei here, we won't lose." Xenovia stated, nodding to herself.

"I doubt it. The devils are almost extinct, should another war happen, all of the three factions will be erased. I've also heard that the current Yondai-Maou are guys who wanted peace." He paused. "But should this be a trap, we'll escape immediately and finally call for reinforcements. If the devils and fallen angels are working together, this is no situation that only the three of use can handle."

"Awaaa, this is starting to get messier..." Irina sighed. "But if it will end up in a battle, I'm glad that the red dragon is at our side!" She exclaimed.

"Indeed. The Church has two Longinus posessors so I'm confident." Xenovia nodded.

He shook his head. "Don't think of that. If I remember, there are also two Longinus possessors in the side of the fallen angels, and one of them is the Hakuryuukou." The two girls became silent when they heard him.

Sekiryuutei and Hakuryuukou are rivals. Everytime they meet, a battle to the death would be inevitable. The chances of one of them releasing the curse of the Two Heavenly Dragons are also high.

"That means that if I meet the current Hakuryuukou, one of us will most certainly die." He summarized. "But anyway, let's get back on topic. Tomorrow, we will drop by Kuou Academy. Unless the devils attack first, we will not do anything. Information is what we need and we have bigger problems than those devils."

" "Understood!" "

* * *

**Hyoudou Residence – After the meeting**

He stared at his phone with wide eyes. His mentor just sent him a message.

_'Kokabiel is that one who's responible. Be careful, this is no simple matter.'_

He frowned silently, if that's the case, then this mission became even more complicated. He now understood why he was dispatched instead of the other sacred gear users. The enemy was a man recorded in the bible, this was a serious case for the heavens.

He once again looked at his phone and read the remaining contents.

_'By the way, did you know that in some countries, rotten cheese is a delicacy? I'm about to try it!'_

His damn mentor was doing nonsensical things again!

* * *

**Kuou Academy – Occult Research Club**

"Ara, so you're the people from the Church." The moment they arrived in the school, they were received by a black haired devil. "I never thought that Excorcists these days are young, oh but where are my manners! I am a devil serving Rias-sama, my name is Akeno Himejima, my master sent me to escort you~"

He nodded. "I'm Hyodou Issei. Himejima-san, please lead the way..." He replied curtly.

Her eyes sharpened upon the mention of his name. "So you're the Church's famous red dragon." She examined him briefly. "Then please follow me, I will lead the three of you where my master is waiting."

The four of them went in the place where the areas where surrounded by trees. There was a building not far and he can feel the presence of other devils, thankfully there was no presence of fallen angels inside. But his senses may be wrong, so he didn't let his guard down for a second. It was weird though, because even if there are devils in this place, it didn't reek of foul aura. The place's energy was bright and there was not a bit of malicious aura lingering around. Somehow, he feels attracted to this place.

"Hey Ise-kun." Tugging at his cloak was Irina. "What do you think?" She whispered. Xenovia was also listening to them.

"I do not sense anything wrong, so you can relax." He answered in a voice that only she can hear. "But do not let your guard down, anything can happen."

"Understood!" Irina said in a rather loud tone, making him and Xenovia sigh.

_'The flow of power here is rather weird though... Ddraig, what do you think about it?'_

**[**_Ah, this kind of place always attracts strong people. I just know that strong people will be gathered in this place..._**]** The red Heavenly Dragon said with a chuckle, as if reminiscing about something. **[**_I can imagine me and white one fighting in this place if we're still be alive..._**]**

He sighed with half closed eyes. _'Give it a rest. It's because of that kind of mindset that the two of thee were slain. Haven't thou learnt thine lesson already?'_

**[**_Just saying... and we were only killed because all of the three powers, youkais, vampires, humans, and other extras teamed up on us... a shame, if we weren't exhausted from fighting each other, we would've definitely destroyed all of them... we were so close... _**]**

He decided to ignore the once-feared-dragon in the meantime. He was sure that if he amused him even more, he would begin to talk about his life story. He was interested in that, but most of this dragon's life was spent on fighting, or arguing with the mentioned white dragon.

The four of them entered the building. Although its outside appearance were old, its interior was surprisingly clean and looks good. The smell was also refreshing, there were none of those trophy-like parts of the body that he mostly see in some devils' abandoned places.

"My master is inside." Akeno said as she stopped in front of the door. She knocked first before opening and door and entering the room. He followed, examining the room before allowing Irina and Xenovia to enter.

The room was spacious and was covered by many magic runes, on the sofa a crimson haired girl was sitting while there are another two devils that was standing behind her. One was a devil with white hair and blank expression on her face. The other one... was a good looking blond male that was glaring at them with barely concealed killing intent, he looked like he will go slashing at them any moment.

His eyes were full of hatred and anger, and he could tell that it was not because simply that they were Church-related.

He glanced behind him, Xenovia was staring at the devil while Irina was reminding her not to do anything reckless. He was thankful for that, he doesn't want a fight to happen before even saying that cause of his visit.

"Thank you Akeno." The crimson haired woman said towards her servant. The devil was most likely Rias Gremory, she has emerald eyes and beautiful features, but the most striking about her was the bright hair. "Greetings, Church's emissary. I am Rias Gremory, my friend, Sona, told me that the Sekiryuutei would pay a visit... Pleasure to meet you Church's second strongest, Cardinal Red-dono."

He rolled his eyes. Even the devil-woman was calling him by that ridiculous title.

"You've already met Akeno." Rias continued. "The ones behind me are Yuuto Kiba and Toujou Koneko." She added. He noticed that unlike most of the high-class devils that he met, this Rias seems to be affectionate to her servants. It was clear from how she acts.

"I'm Hyoudou Issei." He replied, returning her courtesy. "The ones behind me are Shidou Irina and Xenovia Shedoesnothaveasurname..."

The devil, Akeno must've found what he said amusing because she chuckled lightly. Rias also showed an amused smile, raising her eyebrow, Meanwhile, Irina was covering her mouth trying to contain her giggles but terribly failing. Then Xenovia, who seemed that she doesn't get his joke.

"That wasn't my surname." She said. "I do not have a surname." She added, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Xenovia Idonothaveasurname..." Irina cackled at her own joke.

Xenovia stared at Irina as if she was an idiot. "Irina, don't you have a surname? It's Shidou, right?" She said.

He sighed as the atmosphere went haywire. But he guessed that it was for the better, the tension was gone, although the glaring did not stop. Rias' smile widened and Akeno continued to chuckle as the the two holy-sword wielders began to argue in whispers.

He sat in the sofa that was prepared for them, Irina and Xenovia also sat on both of his opposite sides, still clearly not in their bantering. He coughed to get their attentions. "Anyway I'll start talking now so the two of you stop; you can continue it once our agenda here is finished."

" " Yessir!" "

"Recently the Holy-swords Excaliburs that were kept by the Catholic Church Headquarter Vatican, Protestant Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church were stolen." He stated as Rias and the other devils listend at him.

"…So what does the stolen Excaliburs have to do with this country located in the east of the world?" Rias asked.

He sighed. "The Catholic Church was in possession of two Excaliburs including Irina-chan's and Xenovia's." He coughed as he let the'-chan' slip from his mouth, making the chestnut-haired girl pout at him. She must've been embarrassed to be called like that in this kind of place. "The Protestant Church also had two. Also in the Eastern Orthodox Church there were two as well. The last one went missing in the previous war between God, devils, and fallen-angels. One Excalibur was stolen from each Church. The ones that stole them escaped to Japan, and brought them to this town."

Rias raised her eyebrows, clearly surprised. "Looks like my territory is full of incidents. So who are the ones that stole the Excaliburs?"

"The ones that stole them were the Grigori." He replied. "Aside from that, it also seems that they recruited some exiled priests, including Valper Galilei, a former Arcbishop that was responsible for the inhuman Holy-Sword Project."

He deliberately said the latter information, trying to confirm if his suspicion was correct. He took a glance at the devil named Kiba Yuuto, he saw that his eyes were wide and he was clenching his fists so hard. That alone was enough evidence for him.

Rias who noticed what he did frowned, but there were hints of amazement from her face. _'He managed to discern the matter about Yuuto so easily... he's sharp...'_

**[**_Although I've seen you do this a lot of time, I'm still impressed partner..._**]**

Such things were not really hard for him. He trained to read people expressions, muscle movements, body language, and many different things. Reading people wasn't that hard for him who have done so at a young age. He was not strong when he started, so he defeated most of his opponents by reading them, exposing their mental situation and such. The devil, Kiba Yuuto wasn't an exception. Ever since he entered this room, he already noticed his hostile gaze, not directed at them, but at the Excaliburs.

Rias frowned and placed her hand on her chin. "The holy-swords were taken by the fallen-angel organisation? It's not a matter of mistake. But certainly it would be the fallen-angels when it comes to stealing them. For the devils working at the top, holy-swords does not give them much interest."

"It would be simple if it's only normal fallen angels." He sighed. "The Church have confirmed that the main culprit is one of the leaders of Grigori, fallen angel Kokabiel."

This time, not only Rias' eyes widened the same also goes for Irina and Xenovia, the two of them looked at him with questioning gaze.

"It was confirmed by my mentor." He said briefly and the two Exorcist immediately understood. His mentor was the highest and strongest Exorcist, his intel would definitely be accurate.

"Kokabiel… One of the leaders of the fallen-angels that survived the previous wars since ancient times… I never expected to hear the name of the one that appears in the Bible." Rias smirked at the name.

"Sitri-dono must've said this to Gremory-dono, but this incident may be the cause of another war." He muttered and the crimson haired girl frowned. "That's why we came here, in hopes that Gremory-dono would have information about the fallen angels in this city. If another war happens, I'm sure that the 'outsiders' will finally intervene."

The said outsiders were religions that weakened greatly when the Bible spread around the world. Specially some of the Norse gods that harbored great loathing at the religions belonging to the angels and devils. Should that happen, the three factions will forever be erased in existence.

Rias frowned as she released a sigh. "I don't know much information about fallen angels. But I've noticed that their number in this city have started to increase. On top of that, exiled priests have also increased their numbers as well. That's all that I can tell."

_'Hm, not really that helpful. But I guess this will also be helpful in some way.'_

"Is that so? Then I guess we'll take our time investigating." He muttered with a sigh. "By the way, devil-kun, over there, Kiba Yuuto-san was your name right?" He then turned towards the blonde hair boy.

"I won't interfere if you plan to extract your revenge on Valper Galilei." He said calmly, surprising the other people/devils in the room. "But should you do something that will endanger Innocent peoples, I will take you down." He said firmly.

"I don't care about your revenge, but I won't allow other people to be in danger because of that reason." He stated, it was no threat or warning, it almost sounded like a law.

"I'll be sure to remember that..." Kiba replied.

"Huh? Shouldn't you guys from church prevent such things like revenge?" Rias asked with an amused tone. Really, this Sekiryuutei was interesting.

He shrugged. "Meh, I only do that when people confess to me in the church." He then stood up from his seat. "Besides, I'm sure that Kiba-san will do it eitherway." He then sent a glance at Kiba who was also staring at him.

"Anyway sorry for wasting your time, we'll take our leave now." He said as he signaled the other two to follow him leave.

* * *

**Kuou Academy – Occult Research Club**

After Issei and the two Exorcists left, Kiba followed shortly and the three girls were left in the room.

"Ara, Rias what do you think about the Sekiryuutei?" Akeno asked as she served tea to her master.

Rias took a sip of her tea. "Obviously he's sharp. He managed to learn why Yuuto was so angered, he can read other people, that's how I see it. By the way, great tea, it's a shame that they didn't wait until you finished brewing."

"Thanks for the compliment~" Akeno winked. "But I agree, he's smart and amusing. In the whole time that he was here, I didn't detect any hostile aura nor thoughts from him, seems like he doesn't really dislike devils huh? How weird."

"Either that or he's just great at hiding his intent." Rias muttered. "But anyway, do you think that it's coincidence that Kokabiel brought the Excaliburs in this city? Do think that he has some other intents?"

Akeno frowed at the name, she really hated fallen angels. "Maybe he's aiming for something... like a real war perhaps?" She suggested.

Rias nodded. "It's possible. Onii-sama told me that Kokabiel was a man who loved war. It's possible that he brought the Excaliburs here to threaten the two relatives of a Maou just to declare a war. But that's the second of my problems... Yuuto is acting by his own again." She said with a sigh.

"...Buchou, will senpai be alright?" The girl who has been silent up until now spoke.

"Of course!" Rias declared. "We will help him, he's a part of the Gremory group after all!"

* * *

**On the way home.**

It was already starting to get dark when the three church-related people left from a family restaurant.

"Delicious! Japanese cuisine was delicious!"

"Yes, yes! That was the taste of the food of my homeland!"

Even after filling their stomachs, Xenovia and Irina were still praising the food that they just ate. He sighed as he thought of how much he spent for just a light meal.

"Really, you two will still eat at house yet you ate so much..." He sighed as he remembered a certain gluttonous person. Anyway, it's getting late. You two, return in the house, I'll be a bit late so remind mum to save some, if I'm correct, dad will return tonight."

"Eh, Ise-kun won't go with us?" Irina asked.

"Yeah, I will place some magic wards in the city, and I would be faster if I'm alone."

"Okay..." Irina sighed, but she recovered her cheerfulness fast enough. "Let's go Xenovia! Auntie said that she will buy a cake to celebrate Ise-kun's return! Let's accompany her!" She said as she started to walk while dragging a sighing Xenovia.

Once he was left alone, the Sekiryuutei casted a spell on himself, making the people unaware of magic ignore him as if he was just a normal person. It would be troublesome if some were to see him when using his warding magic.

"Alright, time to work..."

* * *

**Two hours later**

He smiled in satisfaction as he finished his job quickly. Half of the city was already guarded by his wards. Should the magical energy raise above the normal level, the ward will send a signal to its creator and will provide some images.

This was one of the many useful magic that he studied from one of his closest friends.

Recalling her, he took out his cellphone and dialed the number, he haven't talked to her in a while.

[Hello?]

From the other line, a feminine voice spoke.

"Ah, hello Lina. It's Ise, just want to say hi." He said with a cheerful tone.

[Oh it's just you... what do you want?]

"As I said, just saying hi... Geez, no need to be so cold you know?"

[I'm doing something important. But since you've called, I may as well ask this. What is the state of your left arm?]

Left arm... she was referring to his left arm that was sacrificed to Ddraig that time when he was in an emergency and needed to use an incomplete balance breaker. It happened so long ago, when Ascalon was still not wielded by him.

"Ah yes... I can feel the magic surging up. Maybe it will return into a dragon's arm in another two or three weeks."

[I see. You're in Japan right now, correct? It may take three days to prepare the transportation magic, but I'll go over to your side...]

"Really? ...Wait a minute, how did you know I was in Japan? I only arrived the other day..."

[I'm always tracking your position.]

"That's... scary in a way, Lina."

Lina Ambrosius, a girl of the same age as him and one of the of the Church's most powerful magicians. She was a descendant of the Great Magician Merlin Ambrosius, the human who created the magic system for all of the magicians. She's a prodigy in magic and was his instructor, having the title of Arcbishop.

[It's not, I'm doing this to monitor you so that I could help you if something happens. I can't let the owner of my life die now, correct?]

He sighed. "I do not own you, stop with that already."

[No. My life is yours, this is equivalent exchange.]

He scratched the back of his head with his free hand. Lina's attitude of saying that she was his started back then, when she almost killed herself when she tried a summoning spell that went wrong because of a miscalculation of a certain phenomenon. During that time, she was half dead and was almost devoured by the monster that was summoned.

In that time, he was still eleven years old, and was recently transferred in the institute and have just began his training to use his sacred gear. To save Lina, he sacrifice his arm to Ddraig in order to use his balance breaker for a mere ten seconds. His weak human body was almost destroyed during those short moments, power that exceeds the users capacity can kill and that's a basic truth.

After that, he used the ability of his sacred gear to transfer power into magic potions that managed to save Lina's life. Ever since then, the cold yet gentle girl said that she could never pay him for what he did, thus her life belonged to him.

No matter what he did, the girl just kept repeating that she will help him in the best that she can. Besides, experimenting on a Heavenly Dragon would benefit her research and such. In the end, she became one of his closest friends... well, his only friends were Irina and her, actually.

Normally she was always accompanying him, but right now she was in a mission to strengthen the barrier of a holy sanctuary. Thus, she has been apart from him for almost two weeks.

To be honest, he felt weird. After all, the girl has been hanging around with him for six years straight.

"Fine, do what you want."

[Understood. I'll be hanging up now, call me if anything happens.]

He hanged the phone and pocketed it before walking towards the nearest vending machine.

It was only a few minutes after the call when he felt someone's presence nearing at him. He could feel the hostility radiating from the source, and the the focus was him. He turned his gaze, and saw a man ahead of him.

There was a foreign man wearing a suit who was looking at him with such fierce eyes

"This is rare. To meet someone like you in a place like this."

"..."

"There is no active church here, all had been abandoned. There's no way that a priest works here."

"..."

He stared at the man with serious eyes. But he didn't do anything else.

"Not talking? Well, not that I care, after all, you're a servant of the God that had forsaken us. I shall end you here, priest." After saying that, black wings appeared on the man's back and a spear made of light was created from his outstretched hand.

"The name's Donnasiege, kid. This is my parting gift before you die." The man said as his arms blurred. In less than a second, he already threw the spear made of light.

But instead of the sound of flesh being pierced, what resounded in the dark street was a sound of something being sliced, and a scream of pain, from Donnasiege.

The fallen angel widened his eyes as his gaze directed downwards, where he saw his black wings and blood on the ground.

He then directed his gaze at the boy, he then noticed that he was holding into a holy sword, not just any holy sword but Ascalon.

"Ascalon...? ...Impossible, you're the Sekiryuutei...?!" He asked with a voice full of fear. The only one who was known to wield Ascalon was the red dragon of the church.

"How lucky." The boy said. "Just when I was problematic where to get information, a fallen angel appears before me. I was so surprised that I thought it was just a hallucination. This must be God helping me." He muttered, praying.

"Donnasiege, I'm Hyoudou Issei, and if you don't mind... I have a few questions."

* * *

AN: So I wasn't expecting 30 reviews in just two chapters, you guys must like the idea of a heavenly Ise... Because of the reviews I was pumped to write and this is the third chapter. Some may complain about an OC, but I think it's quite fine. Vali is surrounded by three descendants of amazing people, it wouldn't be weird if Ise also has one on his side. Lina Ambrosius, the descendant of the first human magician. Vali has Arthur and Le Fay, and Ise has Lina.

For those who are curious about how Lina absorbs the magic in Ise's left arm, it's completely different from the light novel. I'll reveal it later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Undisclosed location – Ise**

"Well, that wasn't helpful," he sighed as he left the scene.

The fallen angel that he exterminated, Donnasiege, was clueless about the Excalibur in this town. He doesn't even know that Kokabiel was somewhere in this town, nor that his fellow fallen angels' numbers were increasing.

But despite his uselessness, he managed to find out his mission. He along with other three fallen angels were planning to steal a sacred gear from an exiled nun. He was sure that he heard something about a sister being banished in the church because of healing a devil, the said devil then killed everyone in the church, aside from the sister who healed him.

He thought that it was just an act of mercy and an exchange for healing him. Then there was the reason that the nun may have asked or begged the devil to spare her. Or maybe the devil did it for a reason of seeing the nun being exiled an having a miserable life.

But he didn't care about that, he was just interested about the other fallen angels. If he managed to find the nun, then maybe he can track the said three fallen, and if he's lucky, then maybe he can squeeze information out of them.

Sheathing Ascalon, he prayed for the fallen angel that he killed. Unlike humans, when fallen angels, who have been abandoned by God, dies, they neither go to heaven or hell. Instead, they go back to 'nothingness' so praying wouldn't really save them.

But still, praying for the former angel made him feel slightly better.

If this went out well, maybe he could save the exiled nun and make her go once again in the straight path. Now that he thinks about it, the devil may have threatened to kill innocents if she didn't heal him. There's so many possibilities and he knows that he shouldn't judge someone without knowing the whole truth.

Sometimes, a life of an Exorcist wasn't the best. He silently muttered as he walked quietly.

"Maybe I should retire when I reach that age and just work as an ordinary priest? Maybe a teacher or a lawyer?"

**[**_Even if you retire, you will still be involved with strong guys, you know?_**]**

Ah right, the curse of the Heavenly Dragon... the ability to attract the strong.

He then thought about the strong people the he have met. There's the pathetic excuse of a mentor, the archangel Michael, the Governor-General Azazel, some high class devils, all kinds of brutish monsters, the cold magician name Lina, the other Exorcist who's pretty strong for a human, and finally, the one that he will possibly meet in the near future, his rival.

Although his mentor might be the strongest, possessing the second strongest Longinus.

His sacred gear, Zenith Tempest, he had seen its power and he had no doubt that Dulio will have the upper hand if he were to fight Michael or even Azazel. After all, Longinus class sacred gears have the power to slay even gods.

Of course his Boosted Gear and his rival's Divine Dividing would be the strongest out of the thirteen, but releasing the true power of the said sacred gears without using Juggernaut Drive was next to impossible.

**[**_If that God didn't sealed our powers completely, we would be in the high tier Longinus-class..._**]**

The Heavenly Dragon complained with a grunt.

"Still keeping a grudge towards God?" He asked with an amused tone, "isn't that bad for the heart? It's been some thousand years, get over it already..."

**[**_Easy for you to say... you're not sealed in this place anyway..._**]**

"You're right. I shouldn't say anything at all."

He understood it, since dragons are the most powerful creatures, it must be a torture for them to be stuck in one place without anyone to fight. He too, would also be bored if he was in that state.

* * *

**Hyoudou residence – Ise**

It was already 09:00 when he returned back in his house.

The first thing he saw when he went in the living room was his mother and father talking to Irina and Xenovia, showing them his younger pictures. He only spent nine years in Japan so there wasn't that much picture, nevertheless, the two holy-sword wielders still took interest.

Irina was reminiscing about their childhood while Xenovia was staring with interest.

"Hey Dad, how's it going?" He casually greeted, making his presence known.

"Ah my son!" His father greeted with a smile, walking over to his side. "It's been so long. You look much better than last time I saw you!"

He smiled at his father. "Yeah, maybe it was because of the change of environment."

His father laughed. "Right! Let's have a drink later to celebrate!"

"Dad, let Ise relax first!" His mum scolded, "son, there are food in the kitchen. Go eat with your dad and spend some quality time together."

He nodded. "Right, I guess Irina-chan and Xenovia already ate?" His mother nodded in response.

His father then elbowed his lightly. "Bringing two girlfriends in the house, you're quite like me when younger," he said with an impressed smile.

"They're not my girlfriends," he automatically replied, not even showing any hints of embarrassment.

"Hahaha! Denial is the first step!" His dad laughed, placing his hand on him. "Don't worry, old man here will give you some tips about girls!"

He smiled weakly then said, "Are you sure to be saying that in front of mum?"

* * *

**Hyoudou residence – Ise**

After eating dinner, his father brought out some sake and had a talk with him.

He was already used about it, after all, his mentor made him taste different varieties of liquor and even taught him how to mix them. He was sure that it was forbidden, because he was still a child back then, but his mentor said that he also did the same when he was on his age.

His father was the one to pass first.

Even though he was only seventeen, he had a high alcohol tolerance, something that he shouldn't be proud of. He developed it because whenever he passes out while drinking with his mentor, he would find himself in the middle of nowhere the moment he wakes up.

Basically, it was all his mentor's fault.

Just when he was heading towards his room, he saw the familiar chestnut-haired girl sitting in the balcony.

"Still awake?"

"Your dad was pretty noisy Ise-kun," Irina replied softly, patting the space next to her, "want to hang around for a little longer?"

He silently made his way beside her and took his sit. The cold breeze was something that he can ignore, he was used to sudden weather changes. Thus, even when only wearing a tank and shorts, he wasn't bothered by the temperature, even though Irina was wearing a jacket.

"It's been so long since we've been here," she started, "a lot has change."

He nodded. "Well, it's normal. Everything changes."

"Yeah," Irina muttered softly, "but it's kind of annoying sometimes."

"Something in your mind?" He asked, noticing the sudden look on Irina's face.

"Back then, everything was so simple," Irina said, staring in the distance. "I feel that I'm more happy when we were kids. Even though it was my dream to become a holy-sword wielder, I still miss the days back then... Ise-kun?"

Irina looked beside and saw that he was already sleeping, leaning his back in the wall.

"Still falling asleep so when someone's talking," she chuckled, "maybe you didn't change that much, Ise-kun?"

* * *

**Next morning – Ise**

The next day, just as the sun began to rise, he was already outside and running on the streets for his morning execise. He was wearing ordinary track clothes and his sword was in a cylindrical container and was strapped in his back.

If one were to look closely, they would notice weights underneath his track clothes. Two on each of his wrist, one around his stomach, and two pairs of each in his ankles. These were no ordinary weights for they were magically enhanced to be much heavier than they look.

Sweat dropped from his forehead and he ran his third lap around the city.

He stopped in a nearby convenience store for a bottle of energy drink and breakfast. The people in his house were still asleep when he left so he didn't get the chance to eat before leaving. Two pieces of sandwich along with a drink was all he needed to energize himself.

"Haa, yesterday was such a disappointment," he muttered, "at least I got a little bit of information even if it's irrelevant for our mission. That nun, what was her name again...?" he tried to remember but soon give up. Maybe he forgot to ask the nun's name and get carried away by the former angel's scream.

Ah, the scream of helplessness and suffering...

**[**_Hey, you're straying from the right path again... won't you become a devil at this rate?_**]**

"Tch, I blame that institute for this personality," he said bitterly as the scene of where he was trained appeared on his mind. Even if it was the Church, their training was inhuman in some ways. He still remembered that certain white haired exiled priest that went nuts because of the harsh training...

Even him, the Sekiryuutei didn't escaped that kind of harsh treatment. The truth was back then, he honestly had thoughts of murdering his first instructor that made him do pointless things. He may have killed him if not for his current mentor taking him under his wing.

"It's a good thing that my gluttonous mentor did something about that institute," he let out a sigh, "at least it's more humane now."

He calmed himself and erased the thoughts. His emotions were building up again, and that was bad, especially since he doesn't know when a fight will break. If he fought with that negative emotion, he may go out of control.

_Hurry up and change the system, mentor..._

* * *

**Later that day – Ise**

It was already night when he felt a signal from one of his wards.

"This aura... it's not a fallen, but a devil," he said to himself as he picked up his cloak along with his trusted Ascalon.

Quietly, he left the house, informing the other two Excorcist was not needed. Especially since he has no information coming from his wards, they only felt the aura from the outside of town so his wards were unable to provide more intel.

If it turns out something dangerous, he will be more relaxed if it was only him there.

"Perhaps another exiled devil...?"

True, reports about exiled devils often appearing in this city has been said to him by Ciel. If it was a normal exile, then he will have no problems killing it. But if it wasn't, he's still gonna exterminate it. The aura it excludes was so dark that he had the urge to slice that devil into pieces.

Then again, maybe he could just leave this at the devils in this city. But that would be neglecting his work, so without any second thoughts, he headed towards the outside part of the city. Because of his superhuman speed, it only took a few minutes before he arrived in the place where the evil presence was leaking.

The place was an unused building, he remembered it to be a creepy establishment even as a child. Maybe it's been used so many time by some evil creatures, the place itself was already tainted. He made a mental note to burn this place after killing the devil inside.

He frowned as the stench of blood and decaying human bodies reached his enhanced senses. This creature had been luring humans into this place to most likely devour them... maybe it was a similar creature to what Lina summoned back then, he thought.

Soon, he felt the presence of the culprit, its hostile intent wasn't concealed. But that was fine, he wasn't hiding his killing intent after all.

"I can smell something delicious. Is it sweet? Or is it sour? Kwakwakwa..." a low voice spoke throughout the darkness. "You're human, but it seems that you taste good..." the voice spoke once again.

The abnormal laughter echoed, if a normal human heard this kind of sound, they would most likely run or stay frozen in their place. But he was different, he was already used to noisy opponents. Their scream when being killed was very painful in the ears.

From the shadows, a thing: its upper part was a topless woman, but its lower part was a grotesque body of a monster. It was holding two spears on its hands, its lower body that had four fat legs with sharp claws were stomping the ground, its snake-like tail moving about.

"Oh! So you're a priest!" the monster said with glee, "it's been a while since I had a priest—!"

The monster didn't even finished speaking when a flash of light and a sharp sound reverberated in the area. In that instant, all four of the monster's fat legs were severed from its body. Gallons of black blood sprayed on the ground.

"Guwaaah!" the monster screamed painfully, but its mouth shut tight when it gazed at the human just standing in front of it.

The human stared at it condescendingly, his cold eyes not even showing any emotion while staring at it. On his hand, a holy sword was shining, it was the thing that cut the monster, but there was not a drop of blood on its blade.

This time, he raised his free hand and created a ball of raw magic. Its size was that of a bowling ball, but the monster felt that it was much powerful despite its looks. The monster only groaned in pain as it tried to stand up despite having lost all of its legs.

He didn't even closed his eyes as he threw the ball of magic towards the figure of the devil. The earth shook for a few seconds before the smoke subsided, revealing no trace of the devil monster. He sheathed Ascalon and used both of his hands to create fire, spreading it, and burning the whole place.

He turned his back at the sight. He's not gonna pray for that abomination.

Before leaving the place, he sent a glance at a certain direction. He was sure that there were some devils watching him do his job. Maybe they were devils who also wanted to vanquish the monster but was beated by him.

So long as they don't pose any threats, he won't do anything...

* * *

**Undisclosed location – Kiba Yuuto**

"Ara ara, it seems like he arrived," Akeno said, signalling Rias to come and watch. "Just as you predicted."

Rias shrugged, "Well, he's a priest and an Exorcist, so it's normal. I'm more surprised that he came alone," she said as she stared at the place from afar. Behind her, Koneko and Yuuto was also watching. The latter wasn't that motivated in the hunting first, but when he heard Rias' plan to watch the Sekiryuutei, he began to look forward to it.

He wanted to see his skills, he may not want to fight him, but there's a chnace that it will happen so he wanted to know the Sekiryuutei's capability when using the sword, Ascalon. His master said that he won't use the Boosted Gear unless the situation calls for it, so he may have a chance to defeat him in a sword play.

Soon, the devil, that they were supposed to hunt, Vaizor, appeared before the priest, saying something.

A flash appeared, it happened so fast.

In just a blink of an eye, the priest managed to severe all of Vaizor's four legs in a single draw of his sword. It happened so fast that Yuuto almost missed it because he almost blinked his eyes. But thanks to the upgrade that he received when becoming a devil and because it was night, when devils' vision became really clear, he managed to caught the scene with his eyes.

There was no noticeable movements, it just happened. His muscles didn't tense and he just drew his sword naturally. That single act was able to do something like this.

"Whew, even without the Boosted Gear, he's quite scary," his master, Rias, said while whistling. "Yuuto, if you were the receiving end of that attack, will you be able to dodge it?" she asked, staring at him.

Dodge? He suppose that he could dodge it if he trained much harder, but his current state was unable to do so. At best, he could only dodge that kind of attack if luck was on his side.

"I can't; but blocking it is within my skills," he muttered. But that was not an option, the enemy was using a holy-sword, and he will still be damaged. The only thing he can do is to parry his sword or retreat in a safe distance.

He continued watching, the priest created a ball of magic energy. It was quite powerful, and was different from the normal human's magic involving the changing of phenomenon.

"Dragon-magic," his master muttered, "that kind of magic is made out of pure power. It's similar to a dragon's breathe but weaker."

"So he has some talent in magic..." Akeno whispered.

The priest then threw the ball at Vaizor, exterminating the exiled devil without any trace. It was similar to power of destruction, but at the same time it's quite different. It's made out of raw power, but it can't annihilate everything.

The priest then burned the whole place, sending a glance in their direction before leaving.

"Wow, he managed to see us!" Rias exclaimed in surprise, "I'm quite confident in this concealment spell."

Great at using swords, talented in magic, and has the advantage of light. On top of that, he was the Sekiryuutei, truly he was a very powerful opponent that is hard to beat. But there was one flaw.

He has the speed, power, and endurance. But he was merely swinging and stabbing his sword. He has no sword style and technique, he only uses the sword to damage his opponents, he doesn't have any technique to come up with it.

It was a single weakness but he will take advantage of it.

In case that Sekiryuutei will obstruct his revenge, he's gonna prepare himself for a confrontation that most likely will take his life.

* * *

**Hyoudou residence – Ise**

The next morning, he woke up rather later than usual. Since it was already early when he returned in his home, it couldn't be helped.

He glanced at the clock and noted that the time was currently seven thirty. Still early, and there's still time for a jog. Smell of the food from downstairs reached his nose, it was strange since his family usually eat breakfast at six.

Maybe they were waiting for him to wake up?

Having that thought, he rose from his bed and did a few stretching.

The incident last night was already pushed in the back of his mind. It was just another successful job and there was nothing noteworthy about it so it would be best if he forget about it already. The devil got exterminated and the place was burnt down.

He went first in the bathrrom on the second floor and took a quick shower before going dowsntairs to eat his share.

He can hear his parents chatting, maybe they were bugging Irina and Xenovia about something. Thinking, of that, he made his way in the dining room.

"...Thou hath kept me waiting," was the first thing that greeted him when he entered the dining room.

He scanned the table and saw another figure eating with the usual four. His parents were looking at him with a smile, while the other two Exocists were staring at him and saying that 'an unexpected thing happened.'

"Good morning Ise," his mother greeted, "you never told us that another visitor will come," she said while pointing at the new girl.

The girl who greeted him stood up. She was a girl on the same age as him, she has dark purple hair reaching in her waist, a pair of blue eyes, her skin is white like an ivory, and she has a slender but trained physique. Lastly, the amount of magic surrounding her was quite large.

"L-Lina?" he said the girl's name.

The girl he called a just a day ago was now in front of him. She said that it may take a few days before she arrives, but it only took a whole day. He was sure that she was doing something important for the Vatican.

"You said that it may take three days," he said.

"...Some things changed," the girl replied, "in the end I took a plane. It's much faster and easy... how come thee never said that traveling by plane is more convenient?"

"We-well, you're the one who likes to travel by _other_ means."

He was referring to Lina's fondness in magic, she always uses transportation spell whenever she travels and she completely ignores things like cars. So using a plane to travel instead of magic...

"Did my mentor came with you?" he asked with an irritated tone.

"...No," Lina replied, "but he was the one who suggested that I travel by plane. I believe that he took the plane to Philippines..."

"Is that so, that good for nothing mentor is probably enjoying himself then," he muttered as he took his seat, "let's catch up later. Mum prepared something good today,"

* * *

**Hyoudou residence–Ise**

After having breakfast, he lead the three church-related people in the rooftop.

"I've always heard that Lina-sama is Ise-kun's partner in the church," Irina expressed her delight, "I'm Irina Shidou! Ise-kun's childhood friend!"

"I'm Xenovia. I heard quite a lot from the descendant of Merlin," Xenovia said.

Lina nodded at them, offering her introduction. "Lina Ambrosius..."

It seems that his partner was also quite famous in the Vatican. He wasn't surprised, since Lina was a damn powerful Exorcist who can fight him head on while in balance breaker. Her magic so so powerful that they can break through his defense and wound his body.

"Really, I thought you were doing something important," he muttered.

"...Yes I was," Lina replied, "but something important also happened in the Vatican."

"Huh? what happened there?"

"...After I received thine call, I finished my work there," Lina explained, "I was preparing the transport circle when two people intruded in my workshop."

"Intruded?" he almost yelled. Lina's workshop was full of lethal traps, that prevents others from entering. It was also quite hard to find so not many can go in there. If someone intruded, then they must be really good to escape her traps.

"...They are also descendants of famous people," Lina said, her tone getting more serious, "one of them is the wielder of the Holy Spear, True Longinus..."

* * *

AN

So I made Kiba prepare himself in fighting Ise, although he has no chance in a contest of power, his swordsmanship surpasses Ise. Since Ise only swings his sword, he doesn't have a technique, he's the one to fight using his fists anyway.

Asia will appear some time later, so please stop asking about that in the reviews.

I also made the wielder of the holy-spear appear much earlier. Contrary to what you huys thought, I'm planning something for the true longinus. So I will ask this now.

The true spear will be important in the story here, and I want you guys to make a choice. Do you want a male wielder () or a female wielder () anyway, the gender can be replaced and its not that important, the only thing is that the holy spear wielder must exist.

Khaos Brigade will also be different here. It will be more powerful and bad ass, since Azi Dahaka, Grendel, Crom Cruach and Apophis will appear in the later story.

Yes, I'm making this hard for Ise and Vali... you guys can tell your answers in the reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry but this isn't a chapter. I know some of you might think the story is dead, but there's a reason on why I haven't been updating. Anyway, I'll say that I'm back and my regular weekly updates will continue, expect new chapter next week, and thank you for wasting a few seconds in this very brief AN**

**~Vnrvnqsr**


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